There and Back Again
by absolutefiction
Summary: Finally finding some quiet time from the continuous 'hub bub' of everyday life, Lucy Heartfilia, escapes for some much needed 'Lucy time'. Between missions and the constant interruptions from her two semi-permanent roommates, Natsu and Happy, Lucy can't quite find the time to just BE. And today won't be her lucky day either when a mysterious guest joins her for tea. [HIATUS]
1. An Unexpected Visitor

**Author's Note:**

_So this story idea came out of the wanderings of my own mind. It's simply a guilty pleasure and not written to better my writing or gain some award of 'original idea's because I'm sure something like this had been written before. Since I can't find it, I thought I'd write my own._

_I'm always up for reviews, comments, criticisms, and thoughts nonetheless! I don't like writing in a vacuum so knowing there are people out there reading my work makes me keep writing. :) _

_So enjoy my little creation! I do not own Fairy Tail but I do own this OC I created._

* * *

Lucy blinked.

"...huh?" was her intelligent response to the smiling girl seated in front of her.

Lucy had been eagerly waiting for the day when she could finally have some much needed 'Lucy time' amongst her busy schedule these past few weeks. Between the odd job for rent money and juggling the responsibilities and stresses her two semi-permanent house guests, Natsu and Happy, brought her, Lucy found it inevitably difficult to gather some breathing space and time to just _be_.

Needless to say, the blonde was ecstatic when she discovered that her rent had been covered for this month and Natsu and Happy were nowhere in sight-knock on wood. Lucy wasted no time in taking advantage of this rare opportunity for some down time, grabbing her purse and favourite book before running out the door, a trail of smoke behind her.

However, the celestial mage was dumbfounded by the young woman seated before her. While flipping to the next page, eagerly anticipating the dramatic plot twists and whatnot of her favourite novel, said girl had flopped unceremoniously into the lounge chair across from her table in her favourite coffee shop in all of Magnolia without any notice, frightening Lucy.

It was not the act alone that had caught her so off guard but the expression plastered on this girl's face and her recognizable features that had caught Lucy by surprise and made her double take before uttering her 'intelligent' response earlier.

"Hey!" the girl's smile, if it had been possible, grew in size, "I'm so glad I found you!"

"Found me?" Lucy decided to play along with her until she gathered herself and figured out which of her many questions to ask first.

"Yeah," the girl nodded, suddenly looking concerned and serious, "I've been wandering around all day totally freaked out! I mean, when did Magnolia get a makeover?!"

Lucy cocked her head to the side in moderate confusion, "A makeover? What do you mean?"

The girl's eyebrow rose before her eyes narrowed as she scrutinized Lucy with an eerily familiar look. Lucy had to blink and gaped the moment she saw said girl...sniff her? The girl's antics were paralleling a certain dragon slayer's but Lucy shook her head, dispelling any more odd thoughts.

"Umm," Lucy interrupted, they were starting to gain some attention from the other coffee drinkers surrounding them, "Mind if I ask you who you are?"

The girl's eyes widened before a confusion of her own set in, "Huh? What are you-?" Then her eyes widened even more when she caught sight of something behind Lucy.

Lucy, unconsciously turned to see what had this girl gawking and noticed a man sitting in the chair behind her, a _Magnolia Times_ newspaper blocking his entire being from view except for his crossed legs sticking out from underneath. With a shake of her head, the blonde mage turned back around to see that the surprised look had not left the girl across from her. While distracted, Lucy decided to take in all this girl had to offer and maybe jog her memory if, perhaps in fact, she did know this girl.

The girl wore an evergreen tank top, loose but tight enough to show off some evident bumps on her chest nonetheless. Her arms were quite toned; the girl was obviously quite strong, stronger than Lucy for sure. Her shorts looked more like cut up jeans that went right along with her rough looking sandals. Her outfit was definitely not outlandish but summer casual. The skin that showed was tanned and showed off a few scars and bruises; although she seemed to be dense and almost ditzy, Lucy would tell this girl knew how to put in a hard day's work.

It was her face and hair that had caught Lucy completely off guard, however. For her eyes were a deep hazel and looked oddly familiar with their over expressiveness. To finish off the girl's look was a mop of pink-yes, pink-hair that cropped the girl's face gently, falling short below her ears. It looked like it needed a good brush but nothing about this girl screamed 'girly' in any sense. Her facial expressions were quite animated and reminded her more and more of another pink haired friend of hers.

'If I didn't know any better,' Lucy felt a sweat drop, 'I'd say I'm looking at a female Natsu.' The celestial mage let out a small nervous laugh which caught the attention of the girl she had been analyzing.

"What year is it?" the pink haired girl asked suddenly without any context.

Lucy decided she'd continue to play along, "Umm, it's XXX. Why?"

As expected, the girl's brown eyes widened once more, "Seriously?! Holy crap! The...that guy...oh fuck."

The blonde held back a wince at the sound of such a hard word coming from this dainty girl before her. Lucy watched as the girl scratched the hair at the nape of her neck, puzzling something out in her head as she mumbled incoherent babbles and stared at the ground before returning her eyes to Lucy, "So you're like...really young, right? This explains a lot..."

Lucy gaped, "Excuse me? How old did you think I was!?" That was it, this girl was downright rude for thinking she was some old hag.

The girl gaped and waved her hands around in front of her defensively, "No, no, I didn't mean that in a rude way! I just..." the girl sighed before clearing her throat to begin again, "Long story short, I think I've time traveled."

Lucy gave the girl a blank stare, not even reacting to the absurdity of this entire situation. The celestial mage's deadpan expression was matched with this girl's serious face. The seconds just ticked as Lucy felt her thoughts some to a screeching halt. The celestial mage was hoping that someone would hop out from under the table or something and shout out that this was all some big practical joke. But it never happened, much to her disappointment.

'So much for my quiet afternoon to myself,' Lucy thought before asking what this girl meant.

"Well, you see.." the girl began, "I was off on a mission, fighting this super old mage in some forest near some god forsaken town when he attacked me with this huge fucking ray of light. I couldn't see a damn thing until I suddenly woke up lying on the ground with no old geezer in sight! So I hopped up and tried finding this crazy old guy cause it was my mission and I couldn't go back to the guild empty handed! I'd never hear the end of it from anybody...so I wandered around and realized I wasn't where I thought I was."

"Where were you?" Lucy asked, unnervingly finding herself drawn into this girl's story; she definitely was an animated storyteller. The girl's expressive facial expressions were paired with similarly expressive hand movements and gestures that seemed to only continue to gain the attention of the other cafe shop guests much to Lucy's dismay.

"I was right outside Magnolia!" the girl seemed to find this fact hilarious for her smile returned and she smacked her knee before continuing, "So I came running, confused but kinda happy to see home even if I couldn't finish what I started. But when I got here, everything seemed off."

"Off?"

"Yea, like..." the girl scratched her head in confusion, deep in thought, trying to gather her next words, "Like it's Magnolia but different. The same but there's some differences. Like places have changed...I was worried thinking I might've been out cold longer than I thought and the whole town decided to renovate without telling me!"

Lucy frowned, "So you're from Magnolia? And a guild, right? Which one? How come I've never seen you around?" _And how do you know me?_, was what Lucy really wanted to ask, but decided to press forward in a different direction for now.

"Well, Fairy Tail of course!" the girl beamed, then instantly frowned, "Just not your Fairy Tail...or at least, not _yet _anyways..."

"Not yet?" Lucy found this story going around in circles. She was from Fairy Tail? But Lucy had never seen this girl in all her life. Yes, the celestial mage had been the latest member of said guild but that had been a few years ago. She could have sworn she knew each member by now...right?

"Well, like I said," the girl nodded and answered obviously, "I think I've time traveled because...well, I know you but...you're a lot...older looking." the girl cringed, bringing her arms up in a protective stance in front of her face thinking Lucy would pummel her or shriek again.

Lucy took a deep breath, "So you're from the future...but I'm confused, I thought time magic was forbidden, an ancient magic. I didn't think there'd be mages out there practicing it."

The girl nodded understandably, bringing her arms down once she knew the coast was clear, "Neither did I but that's the only reasonable explanation I can come with at the moment. Especially considering what year you said it was, where I'm from, it's XXX."

Before commenting on this girl's definition of what 'reasonable' was, Lucy gaped. This girl was from-she did the mental math-nearly twenty years from the future. "Wow..." Was all Lucy could come up with.

If she was really from the future then she knew all the guild members. What were they all like in the future? Were they still happy? Stronger? Were they still all together? It was hard to fathom what her favourite guild would be like twenty or so years in the future. The friends she knew now would all be fully fledged adults, which was something she had a hard time accepting.

Suddenly, a low grumbling made Lucy's abrupt thought process come to a screeching halt. Looking up at the girl, who was wearing an obvious blush, Lucy found the origins of the growl.

"Uhh.." the girl embarrassingly scratched the back of her neck, "You wouldn't by any chance have anything to eat would ya?"


	2. Rose by any other name

Author's Note:

I thought I'd post the second chapter along with a note this time saying that I'll try and do my best to update at least once a week. The chapters will remain about the same size and as the ending of this random story begins to unfold, I'll be able to post and finish this story within a relatively small-ish number of chapters. :)

That's the plan anyways! Hope you enjoy this little guilty pleasure of mine as much as I enjoyed taking a break from real life to write it. Thanks for the reviews so far! So far, it's been greatly appreciated!

I do not own Fairy Tail. Only the lovely OC I created. :)

* * *

Lucy watched the girl run ahead of her, who seemed to be quite enjoying herself as she galloped and skipped to and fro, ooing and aahing, every time she noticed something else that differed from her own Magnolia in the future. The blonde grew tired at the sight of this girl's energy.

Their conversation back at the coffee shop took the back burner for now since Lucy could get no more out of the girl until said girl had something in her stomach, pronto. Much to Lucy's dismay, this meant moving the conversation and hungry new guest back to her apartment for something cheaper to eat since the spare change in her wallet had already been depleted. So begrudgingly, the celestial mage had suggested returning to her apartment to grab some grub and continue the investigation of who this mysterious girl was. Her 'Me' day was officially over.

'At least I got a name finally...' Lucy sighed as her mind traveled back to the cafe.

_"Will that be all miss?" the shop keeper smiled at Lucy before accepting her money at the till._

_"Yes." Lucy sent him a small smile before turning back to the girl who was gawking and letting her eyes travel around the place, finally taking in the shop she had ran into without a second glance at the sight of Lucy from the outside window._

_Lucy accepted her receipt after paying for her scone and tea before gathering the girl up and escorting her outside before something else odd happened, "So where do you live? I mean, I don't expect you to live where you live now...I mean, gosh! This is so cool! If I'm really back in time then that means...holy crap! How old are you, Luce? You look like my age...which means...wow...this is so fucking weird! I wonder what the guild's like! Everyone must look so young I bet..."_

_Lucy couldn't help but cringe this time, "You always use language like that?"_

_The girl gaped and blushed, "Sorry.."_

_Just like that, the girl went from a near spazz attack to depressed in mere seconds, reminding her of a certain dragon slayer she'd been avoiding that day. The blonde suddenly felt bad at her instant response and scolding of the young girl. To change the mood Lucy decided it was finally time to ask another question, "So what's your name by the way? You know mine but I never got yours yet..."_

_The girl's head perked right up with a shocked expression, "Oh geez, how rude of me! I'm Rose."_

_Lucy returned the smile the pink-haired girl, Rose, was sending her way, "Well, nice to meet you Rose."_

_Rose chuckled; Lucy noted the sad undertones of what would normally be a happy sound. "What?"_

_"Well, it's weird...saying 'nice to meet you' when I know you already. But I guess you have no idea who I am." Rose shrugged, "It'll be weird meeting the other guild members...half of the ones I know don't even exist yet!"_

_"You mean they haven't joined yet or...?"_

_Rose's smile grew, "Well everyone had kids and stuff so yea, I guess you could say they haven't joined yet."_

_Lucy gaped, "Kids?"_

_"Well yeah, of course. That's what adults do don't they?"_

_Lucy sighed, this whole situation was becoming unreal._

"Are we there yet?" Rose asked, pulling Lucy from her flashback, a bright smile on her face.

Lucy smiled, "Almost."

Rose went on another one of her tangents again, knowing she had gained Lucy's attention back, "Wow, I can't wait to see your place...if I got my timing right, I think this is THE apartment...I've heard lots about it."

"About my apartment?" Lucy sounded skeptical.

"Yea," Rose chuckled and sent Lucy a smile, "Natsu told me tons of stories."

Lucy found herself finding this girl's 'time traveling' story more believable with each passing second. Mentioning guild members and experiences that Lucy had had made this girl walking next to her less of a stranger but more of an oddity at the same time. She knew Natsu and the others in the future; what were they all like? What was Fairy Tail like? Were all the members still around from Lucy's time? The celestial mage had to hold herself back from flooding Rose with a million more questions.

One question that never seemed to leave her head though was what Natsu would be like in the future. Rose said she knew Natsu, and well enough to hear stories from the fire mage. Lucy felt a growing jealousy building up in the pit of her stomach. The blonde retained her smile as she listened to Rose gabber on about her adventures with said dragon slayer; they sounded close. Something about that truly depressed the celestial mage. Would she still remain close to her best friend years from now?

Reaching Lucy's apartment, the celestial mage opened the front door just in time for Rose to leap through the door and 'ooo' and 'aaa' some more at Lucy's place. Ignoring her guest's current 'shenanigans', Lucy immediately got to work in the kitchen, searching her fridge for something quick and filling for Rose and herself. The quicker they ate, the quicker Lucy could get her answers and quench this growing sense of envy.

* * *

"Mmmm!" Rose smiled, leaning back into her chair and rubbing her belly in a worshiping fashion, "That was delicious! Thanks Lucy."

Lucy couldn't help the smile, "You're welcome."

Gathering the dishes, before guiding her guest into the living room, Lucy wasted no time in getting back on topic from where they left off at the coffee shop earlier that day. Finding her own chair, Lucy took the plunge.

"So if all this you're saying is true, about you being from the future and all, how do we get you back?"

Rose's face changed dramatically as she became serious and shrugged, "I have no idea. I mean, I don't even know how I got here in the first place really. If it had been magic, it's forbidden. So finding someone who practices it could be challenging."

Lucy sighed, fearing that answer. In all the books she had ever read on time travel, the obvious answers were likely not going to help either of the girls out if a mage had forced Rose to travel back in time using forbidden magic. "So you could be here for awhile I take it..."

Rose shrugged again, "I'm as clueless as you, you know everything I know now."

Lucy slumped back into her chair, defeated. She did not think she could handle another permanent house guest. With her energy and constant chatter, tossing her into the mix with Happy and Natsu was not going to be a picnic, to say the least. Rose needed to go back to her time somehow...but how?

If the gods existed, they were not on Lucy's side that day. Unfortunately for the celestial mage, said dragon slayer and exceed found their way into Lucy's apartment from their traditional entrance of the second floor window, "Luuuuucyyyyyy! Ya miss me?" Natsu squealed as the two entered, ignoring the current tension-filled room they had just entered.

Suddenly, the new girl sitting on Lucy's couch caught the attention of the fire mage and blue cat. Natsu glanced over at Rose with narrowed eyes, "Who's this?" he asked bluntly, giving the girl a sniff for further identification.

Happy flew over to the girl who had remained uncharacteristically silent as she stared at Happy then Natsu then back at Happy again as he neared her and plopped next to her on the coach, "Yea, who is this Lucy?"

Lucy shrugged and sighed, running a hand through her hair, being blunt would be best at this point, "This is Rose. She found me at the coffee shop and says she's from the future."

"The fuuuuuture?" Happy asked, his eyes widening in awe as he glued his eyes onto Rose, who was beginning to shrink back into the coach as Happy approached her, leaving a mere inch between their faces, "So you're like an alien or something?" the Exceed asked, innocently.

"That's outer space you stupid cat!" Lucy shrieked, exasperated with all the company, "She's from the future! Not some other planet!"

Happy finally pulled his eyes away from Rose and looked back at Lucy, who seemed to be fuming. The blue cat shrank back and flew as fast as he could back to his dragon slayer brother, cowering behind Natsu's shoulders, "Mean Lucy is mean!" he whined, before noticing how tense the fire mage's shoulders were, "Natsu?"

Looking at the fire mage, you would have thought he had eaten a whole plate of fire food and swallowed it down the wrong tube with the expression he was giving Rose. The dragon slayer was sniffing every few seconds as his eyes widened even more as the seconds passed, "Who is this again Lucy?"

It was finally Rose's turn to speak up before chaos erupted, "I'm from the future like Lucy here said." Rose seemed to be sweating underneath Natsu's intense gaze. The pink haired mages were giving each other undivided attention, staring the other down as the tension increased further in the living room.

Lucy was at a loss, "Natsu, what's your problem?"

"She..." Natsu took another whiff before continuing, "She smells like..."

"You?" Rose finished for him before standing up, gaining some confidence finally, "Well that's to be expected." The girl sent a shrug his way and sighed in defeat.

It was Lucy and Happy's turn to give Rose a stare, "What do you mean? Expected to?" Lucy asked, looking from Natsu to Rose.

"Well yea..." Rose answered, "I wasn't gonna say anything since I might mess with the time space continuum or something but it can't be helped I guess...I said I'm from the future, right? Well, I was born into the guild...but to be more specific I'm kinda...this guy's daughter here." She jerked a thumb at the dumbfounded dragon slayer as she looked at Lucy in a 'matter of fact' way.

"My..."

"Na-Natsu's..."

"His..."

Rose let out a small chuckle at the group's deadpan expressions before nodding, "Yup, I'm Rose Dragneel. Natsu's daughter."


	3. Nakama

Natsu was running down the familiar streets of Magnolia, dodging people and objects as he raced Happy towards their favourite celestial mage's apartment. The two of them had succeeded in finding a suitable mission for the team and chose to waste no time in sharing their good news with Lucy who, they guessed, would take up any opportunity to get money. Natsu never quite understood Lucy's frantic obsession with her 'rent' but he would always shrug it off to her weirdness; she was a weirdo after all. His main concern was to hopefully stock her fridge up with some food cause, from what Natsu could remember from his previous visit, that girl was lacking in the grub.

As Natsu and Happy came swooping around the street corner just before Lucy's place, he noticed the blonde girl's window was perched open. Before even he noticed, Natsu took a few more leaps before he pushed up with his legs and gracefully landed on the window sill with Happy just behind him. He pushed the window open gently and hopped into the living room with his trademark smile, "Luuuuucyyyyyy! Ya miss me?"

But before he could say any more he noticed that the celestial mage was not alone. He noticed the girl sitting on her couch across from her. With a quick sniff, Natsu asked, "Who's this?"

She was tiny but from Natsu's view he could tell she could pack a punch if the need was necessary; her arms seemed tiny, yet powerful. The girl seemed familiar and yet remained a complete stranger to Natsu. Her soft pink hair caught the fire mage's attention; where had he seen that colour of hair before?

Happy was also puzzled by this stranger and came flying from behind Natsu and went closer to the girl, seating himself next to the girl who sat in Lucy's couch, "Yea, who is this Lucy?" the exceed echoed.

Lucy seemed to be tired and simply shrugged and combed through her hair with her hand before answering, "This is Rose. She found me at the coffee shop saying she's from the future."

Natsu did not understand. Luckily for him, Happy responded, giving him a chance to make sense of it all. "The fuuuuuture?" The exceed's eyes seemed to bulge as he looked back at Rose, taking her all in as if for the first time. The girl seemed a bit flabbergasted and was backing into the couch, avoiding the overly eager exceed, "So you're like an alien or something?"

"That's outer space you stupid cat!" Lucy retorted, her patience was wearing thin, "She's from the future! Not some other planet!"

Natsu gulped, noticing Lucy's rising temper. He better choose his next words wisely or it would be his turn to feel the wrath of Lucy. The fire mage took note of the girl's retreating form; the girl was hiding something. Happy did not last much longer under Lucy's glare as he came flying back towards the fire mage, hiding behind him, "Mean Lucy is mean!" he whined.

Natsu glanced back at Happy to comfort him but before he could respond a certain smell caught his attention. How could he have missed it before? His shoulders tensed as his thoughts slowed right down as he eyed the girl once more.

"Natsu?" Happy asked, noticing the dragon slayer's drastic change.

The pink haired boy sniffed a few more times before realizing the origin of the smell was this girl sitting on Lucy's couch. He had to sniff a few more times before asking, "Who is this again Lucy?" If he was not mistaken, this girl smelled familiar...too familiar.

The girl finally decided to talk, "I'm from the future like Lucy here said." She was nervous about something.

'Aha!' Natsu thought, 'She smells like...me?'

Natsu took pride in his dragon-like senses. It had saved him and his nakama more times than he could count. Whether it was his sense of sight, smell, or hearing, his abilities were something he had never second guessed or questioned. But right in this very moment when he finally was able to place the scent of this perfect stranger sitting in Lucy's living room, the fire mage began to doubt himself. Out of all the scents he had smelled over the years, it was his own scent that he had come to know the best simply for the fact that it never left him. What left him feeling disconcerted was that this girl reeked of it. That did not make any sense. The only person he knew that smelled like him was himself. How could this girl smell like him.

Lucy looked as confused as he felt at that moment, "Natsu, what's your problem?"

"She..." Natsu took another whiff of the girl just to make sure before replying, "She smells like..."

"You?" Rose finished for him, "Well that's to be expected."

Lucy and Happy were finally sharing Natsu's wide-eyed expression as they all gawked at the girl. The fire mage hated the few times he was right.

"What do you mean? Expected to?" Lucy interrupted, trying to keep up with the sudden turn of events. The blonde was only now putting two and two together; the pink hair should have been a dead giveaway.

"Well yea..." Rose shrugged, realizing the jig was up. "I wasn't gonna say anything since I might mess with the time space continuum or something but it can't be helped I guess...I said I'm from the future, right? Well, I was born into the guild...but to be more specific I'm kinda...this guy's daughter here." She jerked a thumb at the dumbfounded dragon slayer as she looked at Lucy in a 'matter of fact' way.

"My..."

"Na-Natsu's..."

"His..."

Rose chuckled, "Yup, I'm Rose Dragneel. Natsu's daughter."

* * *

"Here, this should fit you." Lucy called out as she tossed an article of clothing towards Rose across the room.

The shirt hit the girl in the head, pulling the young girl from some deep thoughts, before she pulled it off with her hands, "Thanks." She smiled and began stripping, changing into the pjs Lucy was lending her.

Lucy said an offhand 'no problem' before grabbing a pair of her own pajamas. It was decided the girl would stay with the celestial mage for the time being until they found a way to get her back to her own time. Afterall, Lucy did not think the girl would survive in the pig sty Happy and Natsu called home. Her greatest fear was that she might have to perform a rescue mission to find Rose in that mess of a house; the blonde found herself wondering if she would agree to any mission to save Rose if it meant entering that god-forsaken place Natsu called a home. Rose would have a lovely funeral.

The two girls continued getting ready for bed while Lucy's mind wandered back to the events earlier that day. It had been surprisingly easy to accept Rose's relations with her fire mage friend. The two were almost identical save for the colour of their eyes and a few minor details. Besides, the sooner the trio could accept that this was reality, the sooner they could help the young girl out; she was a Fairy Tail mage after all, making her their nakama either way, and they would do whatever it took to help their nakama.

Lucy glanced over and saw the evidence with her own eyes: Rose's Fairy Tail tattoo, emblazoned on her left shoulder in a nice shade of red. She was their nakama, through and through; whether or not she was blood related to Natsu or not was truly beside the point.

But she was related to Natsu. Lucy could not get passed that reality no matter how hard she tried. Knowing that one of her best friends had settled down with god only knows who and had a child hurt Lucy for some reason; especially if that girl was not her. Lucy's eyes bulged out when she realized what she had just admitted to herself.

"So we're meeting Natsu and Happy at the guild tomorrow morning?" Rose asked, reminding herself of the plan they had tentatively set.

The blonde was ever so grateful for the interruption, "Mhmm, we'll ask everyone if they know anything about any forbidden time magic to start. There's always Levy or Mirajane or Master who might know of some lead we can go off of. That's the best we have so far so let's hope it works out." Lucy offered an encouraging smile to the young girl sitting at the edge of her bed already.

Rose nodded, trying to hide her worry. There was a small part of her that feared she would not find a way back home to her family and friends from her time but she did not want to burden Lucy and Natsu with it; they were already helping her so much as it was.

"Thanks again Luce." Rose smiled.

Lucy chuckled softly, "Don't worry about it. You're nakama. Fairy Tail helps its own and that's the least me and Natsu can do. So no more worrying alright? Let's get some sleep while we still can."

The blonde clicked the lights off and made her way to her bed where Rose was already cuddling up in the covers next to her. Lucy smiled as Rose whispered a quick good night and yet another 'thank you' before quickly dozing off to sleep.

The celestial mage could not help but smile lovingly at the young girl next to her. She was so sweet and it was so easy to find herself mothering over her. It did not help that she was actually the daughter of her best friend so Lucy found it almost natural to want to take care of Rose. The girl's sleeping face seemed to be filled with worry; Rose's eyebrows scrunched up every so often making it look like the girl was puzzling through some difficult math equation or something.

The blonde tucked a piece of Rose's hair behind her year before rubbing at her cheek in a weak effort to calm the girl down. 'Only because he's your best friend of course,' Lucy thought to herself, noting that the pink haired girl had calmed down enough for Lucy to pull her hand away.

The mother of this pink haired girl was unknown to Lucy and this fact alone made Lucy quite nervous. The idea that Natsu had settled down, married a girl, and had a kid was beyond Lucy's perception of the said dragon slayer's life but Rose was proof enough that, eventually, it was going to be a reality. But who was her mother? Who was the woman Natsu loved enough to commit his life to and create this life with? Who was this woman that could give Natsu a reason to give up his search for his adoptive father, Igneel?

Lucy blushed, realizing it was much too late for such thinking. Pulling up the covers, Lucy whispered a 'good night' back to the sleeping girl and was sleeping before she knew it.

Silently, Rose opened an eye, peaking at Lucy before opening both brown eyes to stare just as Lucy had done mere moments before. The girl smiled and snuggled closer, breathing in Lucy's scent before her smile grew, "Good night mom."

* * *

**A/N: Don't judge but I wrote this without editing or rereading. I'm already hitting writer's block with this one. haha I have the general plot in my head with a few chapters basically written out now but the little in between moments are what get me. **

**Thank you for the reviews and comments thus far! I thoroughly appreciate them and will do my best to get you a chapter per week. I'm returning to university this weekend so my schedule's going to pick up but I will make that promise nonetheless. **

**Please critique and let me know what you think! I will come back to this chapter eventually to edit it but I thought 'what the hey' and updated anyways...let's see if that was a mistake or not! :P**

**-Absolute xoxo**


	4. Change of Plans

Happy was not impressed.

Yawning for what felt like the millionth time, the blue Exceed felt it extra difficult that morning to keep up with his best pink-haired friend. Said young man was nearly barreling people over in his haste to get back to Lucy's apartment as fast as he could: he was a man on a mission. In the events of yesterday, the dragon slayer had made the mistake of letting his and Happy's original intentions slip by; understandable considering what all had happened. The two friends had intended to share with their blonde companion of a job posting they would be eager to do and hoped she would come along with them.

But at the same time, the fire mage realized that a change of plans might be in order. With the arrival of Rose, the original Team Natsu had concocted a plan to figure out a way to return the young girl to her own time. If that happened, Natsu would have to cancel his mission plans. Either way, the dragon slayer knew he had to get to Lucy's as soon as possible. He was a man of action.

Natsu spotted the familiar apartment and fell into the familiar motions of leaping up from the sidewalk and landing near the second story window, open and always welcoming. Happy was closing in behind as Natsu peaked into the quiet apartment. Finding the coast clear, he entered and looked around for Lucy. To his surprise, the blonde was still curled up in a tangle of blankets, completely asleep and unaware of her new company.

Before the cherry-haired male could wake her, a sound caught his attention from the bathroom. Before the two friends could figure out what the origins of the sounds were, the bathroom door swung open to show a groggy Rose rubbing away the sleep from her eyes.

The girl made a squeak when she noticed her new audience but quickly smiled, "Morning."

Natsu relaxed and sent her a small smile back, "Morning."

The blue exceed was already making his way towards the girl, "Good morning Rose, sleep well?"

The girl chuckled and gave the cat a friendly pat on the head, "Yup, what are you guys up to this early? I thought we were meeting at guild."

Natsu answered, "We came to see Lucy and tell her about a job we found at the guild yesterday. I know we have to help you out now though. I don't know..."

Rose perked up, "A job? Can I come?"

The dragon slayer had not thought of that option but was excited nonetheless, "For sure!" Although he knew their obligation to help the girl out should take precedence over any mission, Rose seemed keen on the idea so Natsu would happily return to his original plans of going on the job he had selected yesterday. Though, he would need to still ask Lucy.

"But Natsu what about helping Rose get back to her own time?"

Both Rose and Natsu jumped at Lucy's presence, neither noticing when the blonde has woken up and joined them. Lucy shook her head and smiled at the two. She had been awake since Natsu and Happy had arrived and pranced all so 'quietly' into her apartment. But overhearing the conversation, Lucy decided it would be a good idea time to finally pipe in and give her two cents worth. The fire mage was already forgetting their original priority of helping Rose out.

Rose was the first to respond to Lucy's reminder, "Yea but come ooooon Luce! It's not like helping me out as an expiry date or anything. We can do the job and then return to getting me back to my time. It'll be fine."

Natsu and Happy watched Lucy's reaction, knowing the blonde would always remain the 'brains' of their team. It was up to her to make the decision.

Lucy thought it over and shrugged, not having a good argument to use against Rose, "Fine. One mission and then we're right back to getting you home, you got that?"

The two pink haired mages high fived each other, "I'm all fired up!" Natsu cried as the group continued their little victory dance. Lucy shook her head and laughed at their antics. She enjoyed being able to make the others happy, but no matter how joyous this occasion seemed, the blonde could not fully rid herself of the sudden and deep seeded worry she felt over their decision to push back helping Rose.

Ignoring her growing worry, Lucy stood to get ready, "Okay, get out of here so I can get cleaned up. We'll meet you at the guild in a few alright?"

Natsu nodded and grabbed Happy before racing to her window, "Yea for sure! Meet you in a few. I'll go let Mira know."

Then the girls were alone once again. Rose was still smiling at the idea of joining her father and Happy and Lucy on a mission. "Well, let's get ready shall we?" Lucy smiled, hands on her hips.

* * *

"This place looks so different!" Rose exclaimed as she pushed open the large doors to the infamous Fairy Tail guild. Her giddiness at getting to finally visit her guild and a few more familiar faces was so contagious that she had Natsu smiling alongside her. The fire mage and exceed had anxiously been waiting for the arrival of Rose and Lucy almost ever since they left Lucy's apartment earlier that morning. Now that they had arrived, Natsu was eagerly showing Rose around and proudly announcing their entrance to all the members present.

"Who's your friend, Natsu?" came a question from over by the bar.

The fire mage looked up and saw Mirajane gently wiping dry a few wine glasses, her eyes focused on Rose. Natsu smiled, "This is my daughter!"

The guild, if it were even possible, had grown almost painfully silent at the grand exclamation Natsu had shouted out. Rose deadpanned and felt herself cringe at her father's delicacy in situations such as these. Running a hand over her face in sudden exhaustion, Rose decided it was time to speak up, "Uhh yea, don't freak out but he's right. Long story short, I'm from the future."

After receiving a few blinks, stares, and a few more moments of silence, the Fairy Tail gang was eventually given the low down of what occurred during the past twenty four or so hours and fully caught up in the events of last night, much to Rose's thankfulness. She smiled to herself realizing that she finally felt more at home. After getting past the reality that the family she knew and loved in her time were much younger in this one, she realized not a whole lot had changed radically. The guild was still very much her home.

"So if Natsu's your father," Mirajane interrupted Rose's thoughts with an innocent question as the two sat together at the bar, "who's your mother?"

The young girl glanced over at the takeover mage and noticed the knowing look in her eyes. Mirajane, much to Rose's credit, was a notorious match maker even in her own time. If Rose had a nickel for every time the older mage had tried to hook her up with a few of the young male members of the guild, she would be filthy rich. So the antics of this Mirajane came as no surprise to the young girl in the least. Taking a quick glance at her father, who sat somewhat nearby with Happy at the other end of the bar, Rose could tell by the way his head was perched that the young male was intently listening to this change in the girls' conversation.

Rose wanted so desperately to share the identity of her mother just so she could quit the act and not walk on egg shells anymore. But for some reason, she could not tell the take over mage who she was. Knowing that Natsu was listening intently deterred her from admitting the truth only for the reason that, in the end, it was his choice to tell. Yes she was Rose's mother but for Natsu, it was his future spouse. This, ultimately, was Natsu's information to divulge and since she had not clarified with the fire mage whether or not she could tell, she was going to keep her mouth shut until further notice.

Rose let out a sigh, "For my own reasons, I've kind of decided not to tell anyone."

The way one deals with Mirajane is to quickly and abruptly shut her down, Rose had learned over time. The key was to show hardly any emotional response and calmly tell her what was what. Much to Rose's surprise, however, this younger and more eager Mirajane was not as predictable as she had first thought, "And what reasons might those be?"

"My own."

Mirajane narrowed her eyes at Rose. She was good, she had to admit. The stubborn nature was definitely a worthy adversary to her own but it was not enough, "And if I were to guess?"

Rose glanced over at Natsu again, a look that did not go unnoticed by the take over mage, before the young pink-haired girl sighed, "I don't like secrets but I'm choosing to keep this one for someone until they tell me I don't have to."

Mirajane had not been expecting that response but, upon looking at Natsu for herself and noticing his attentiveness to their conversation, the white-haired mage sighed and smiled kindly to Rose, "I understand. But tell me one thing though...does he know?"

Rose had to smile, "He sure does."

* * *

"Why the face Natsu?"

Natsu glanced up at his blue friend Happy who had pulled him from his thoughts, "Oh nothing, just thinking."

"Thinking?" Happy asked with a look of utter terror on his face, "Should I get Wendy? Are you feeling alright? I'm getting worried."

"Oh shut up!" Natsu grumbled, smacking the blue cat away, "A guy can think everyone in awhile."

Happy chuckled. The blue cat loved his friend very much and always got pleasure from bugging and pestering him everyone in awhile. Looking again at his fiery friend, he noted that Natsu had returned to his thoughts, ignoring him once again. Noting that his ears perked every once in awhile, Happy glanced back to see Rose and Mirajane in a heated conversation. Putting two and two together, the blue cat flew away, leaving Natsu to his eavesdropping. He would find Lucy and finish the last minute plans for their mission.

The dragon slayer sighed in relief at Happy's departure, returning to his thoughts. Yes, he had overheard the entirety of Mirajane and Rose's conversation and it had left him with a lot of thoughts to think. Natsu had to admit, it was a lot to think about but what the guild and his friends did not know was that Natsu was quite the thinker. He thought a lot of thoughts throughout the day; big ones, small ones, and some that would consume his mind for days on end. It was not his favourite pastime but some thoughts called for his undivided attention and energy; thoughts like the ones he was having lately were some of them.

Some of the thoughts our dragon slayer was currently chewing on centered on a certain new development known as his daughter, Rose. Though he did not see himself as a father figure, Rose had surprised him greatly at her arrival; not just because she time traveled, but because he never saw a future of settling down and having a kid as a reality for himself. He was quite the ambitious young man and had plenty of things to keep himself occupied; settling down with a wife and having a few children was out of the question at this point in his life.

But when this reality became a possibility, Natsu found his head swirling with thoughts.

Rose seemed like a pretty cool kid from what the fire mage had discovered so far. She was easy to talk to, seemed bright, happy, and was overall an awesome girl. To know that she was biologically related to him confused the life out of Natsu. Knowing that someone would even want to be with him and create a child with him was another thing entirely.

And this was when his thoughts returned to the previous conversation between said young girl and Mirajane only moments before. His thoughts always did return to this one thought because it seemed to always come back to this: Lucy.

Lucy Heartfilia.

His partner.

His best friend.

And now his future wife?

He had to admit, he was shocked when he noticed not only his own scent on Rose but that of another: Lucy's. At first he thought he had confused it with the scent of her apartment, seeing as they were standing in it, but even as they walked around the guild this morning together it was irrefutable: Rose was Lucy's daughter too.

So if Rose was Natsu's daughter and also Lucy's then the only logical conclusion would be that they were somehow together in the future, right? And to be together meant that they loved each other, right?

"Natsu."

Natsu looked up and saw the very girl he was thinking about standing right in front of him, her face a mere inch or two away from his. He barrelled backwards, falling off his bar stool in the process. The blush that was reaching his cheeks went unnoticed by his friends, he hoped, as they stood over top of him, worried.

Happy and Rose smiled knowingly but said nothing, "We're ready to go!"

Lucy lent the dragon slayer her hand to lift himself up and before he knew it, he had recovered and was raring to go, "Let's go then."

Noticing that he was still gripping Lucy's hand tightly in his own, the dragon slayer let go as quickly as he could. Tossing the same hand in the air as a fist pump, he shouted, "I'm all fired up!"

He really hoped no one noticed his blush.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Oooookay, sorry for the email notifications, etc that all these edits might have created for you. I decided that it was about time I dusted this story off and this required me to reread what I had created so far and that resulted in a few edits and changes in plot. I've decided to repost the newly edited first four chapters. The other chapters results in a few larger changes and some restructuring. I know this is a pain and I honestly appreciate those who have Favorited or followed this story; it does not go unnoticed by me.

The other chapters are in the writing and outlined process and should be up before Christmas! I have the rest of the plot generally plotted out so it's a matter or writing them out and editing. I'm making this under ten chapters so almost done! :)

Thanks again and sorry for being AWOL for so long.

-Absolute xoxo


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